Fill-in episode and a not strong one.

This season of Castle started off with one of the best season premieres of this fall season and the following episodes didn't levae us hanging. This one, on one hand was funny and lighthearted, but lacked the whole Castle-Beckett interaction that makes us watch every week and be on the edge of wherever we're sitting just to see a glimpse of that will they-won't they whole thing.

Beckett was left alone in NYC to investigate the murder of the week on that side and the boys were sent to Las Vegas to see how much they could find out about the victim and his habits. The case was not a strong one, but we had some good moment with the trio in Las Vegas and with the new captain and Beckett on the NYC end.

We find out that the captain certainly knows that something is up between her detective and the writer, as she subtly points out at the end of the episode. The episode gets better towards the end, where Beckett meets up with everyone and sees them on their Elvis Presley costumes. Extremely funny bit, I might add.

Kind of tired of the Alex that's being presented to us this season. Since she found out that she didn't got into Stanford, she's bein quite a pain in the butt lately. Let's hope that she gets better towards the end of the season. :)

Has Elvis really left the building?

By moving Beckett slightly out of the foreground, the writers provide screen time for further character development of her cohorts, especially Ryan and Esposito. Although having Beckett so frequently off-stage limits opportunities for the usual Beckett-Castle banter persiflage, humor percolates throughout the episode, both in dialogue and in sight gags. As Ryan, Esposito, and Castle engage in some "male bonding" while on the case of a murdered New Jersey casino owner, the viewer learns more about the trio's team dynamics and their genuine caring for one another. Previous presentations of team dynamics [with or without Beckett] have generally involved dangerous and/or highly stressful situations; however, this less intense situation offers opportunities for different sorts of character development.

Most episodes of Castle feature subplots for comparison/contrast with the primary plot. This time, Alexis' attempts to get on with her life after breaking up with Ashley provide the subplot. Her planned quiet night with "the girls" almost becomes a brawl, courtesy of Twitter. Similarly, the planned routine investigation [which "the boys" hope will leave them some time for an impromptu bachelor party for Ryan] becomes anything BUT routine. Ashley tries to disguise her grief; similarly, members of the trio try to disguise themselves in order to excavate the truth from a flurry of lies, excuses, and hidden motives.

The theme of relationships permeates this episode: Alexis has severed her relationship with Ashley and may well take a huge step back from her relationship with the female friend responsible for the near-brawl; Castle's relationship with his daughter always brings to mind his relationship with Beckett; Esposito and Laney have broken up with each other; Ryan's relationship with his fiancée necessitates disappointing Castle and Esposito as he must choose one of her family members to be best man; two suspects in New Jersey turn out to be both innocent and in love with each other; the relationship between Beckett and Gates seems to be taking a turn for the better; and the relationship between the murdered man and his ex-wife is pivotal to the plot.

With Ryan, Esposito, and Castle in New Jersey, Beckett has no buffer against Chief "call me sir" Gates – but this time, she does not need one. Perhaps because it is "girls' day in" at the office, Gates talks to, and listens to, Beckett without engaging in her usual snide comments, sarcasm, criticism, or high-handedness; her generally belligerent and confrontational attitude appears only briefly, as she orders Castle to accompany Ryan and Esposito to New Jersey. Responding to the apparent changes in Gates, Beckett lowers her guard a bit and actually teases Gates about her attitude toward Castle, the first bit of humor this season to involve Gates directly rather than as a target for the team's disgruntled comments to one another. Until this episode, Gates appeared both monolithic and Neolithic: one attitude only, with that attitude set in stone.

Even without the usual tensions and without much Castle-Beckett interaction, this episode works well. It offers Beckett hope of a better relationship with Gates, which could become a springboard for Ryan, Esposito, and Castle to experience a similar change in their working relationships with Gates. Even if a bit short on plot, this episode is long on character.

Oh another 'fill in' ep that was a waste of time

Why have fill in episodes if they are going to be this bad??? Last weeks episode was so good then they follow with this rubbish. Whoever wrote this (Elizabeth Davis) should be out on hold from writing another one for punishment. Firstly, don't take away the banter we love about the show, its fine to split up the two leads for an episode but at least still give us something when they return or even just a phone call would have sufficed. But nothing??? Would never happen if they are so fond of each other like we know they are. The Elvis costumes were great and that was the only laugh worthwhile mentioning, but once they walked through the casino the moment was gone. I was expecting Nathan to have to step into the performance or something but it didn't go anywhere.

Really agree with the previous post that this fell really flat. In fact the best scenes were still with Beckett back at the precinct cause I like her chemistry with the new captain. Then when Beckett finally got to the boys she just looked at them dressed as Elvis and said nothing, no funny remarks?That's so not Beckett, again the writer lacked so much in this episode as every scene fell short, whether it be expectations of laughter that never came or possibilities that never occurred, the other writers were obviously noton hand. Maybe they all had a week off and let this writer go free with it, well please don't do it again as I would have preferred a rerun to this drab.

what is Castle without the Castle- Beckett interactions?

I am Castle's biggest fan, i love all the characters and plots, but this episode fell flat for me. The boys going off to AC had so much potential, but aside from a brief scene that has the boys strutting through a casino dressed as Elvis impersonators, the potential was not realised. Maybe Stana needed some time off or something, but the cast are great together because they all have something to offer, and are held together by the two leads, who lets be honest have the most substance. By taking Beckett out of the equation, we lost the witty banter that makes this show, as well as the huge amount of UST that works its way into every episode. Alexis' storyline was fun, although how many times in movies and television have we seen a teenager invite a few friends over and suddenly there are people coming from everywhere and 'Oh no! not my parent's precious vase! (Mean Girls anyone?). The writer of Castle continuously prove themselves to be exceptional, so i guess this episode was just a bit of a let down from that.

And some questions that need to be answered:1. Alexis is a sensible, level headed girl, who wouldnt be friends with someone as superficial or airheaded as her 'friend' who told her 'lighten up, it's only a party!', so why do that?2. Lanie and Esposito broke up? When? Why? for a show that is usually so great at getting into it's characters, this was as unseen and abrupt as their hooking up in the first place.3. What the hell is Det. Gates' problem with Castle? He never did anything to her, yet she refuses to see how helpful he is, to the point of VERY unprofessionally ignoring him when he is speaking. What is she, 14?

Out of my love for Castle i will grade this ep a 7, but I am looking forward to the writing team picking up their game for the next ep.

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